My generation was on the cusp of the computer era. We were taught once a week in a special computer room, but we were also taught how to type by clickity-clacking away on good old paper-and-ink typewriters.

Computers weren’t in any classrooms and the Internet wasn’t a thing. At all.

I say this not to explain how old I am (GET OFFA MA LAWN, SONNY! Aaaarrrrg there goes me hip), but to illustrate how much classrooms have changed since I was in school.

And you know what? That’s not a bad thing.

I use a computer every single day… one at work, one at home (and thanks to Netflix and YouTube, the laptop at home replaces having a TV at all). I tweet prolifically, I use Facebook constantly for story ideas and contacts, my email accounts are a hive of activity and I can’t imagine living without Google.

Why deny our kids the opportunity to learn the awesomeness — and pitfalls — of technology from an early age?

I spent time inside Mrs. Maley’s Grade 1/2 classroom recently (see the story here), where the kids regularly use Twitter and blogging as a learning tool. They also use their iPads to help with math projects; the day I was there, they were wandering the hallways, excitedly looking for patterns of which they’d take photos and show off to the class.

That’s right, people — these kids were enjoying math (*GASP*).

The reaction from some folk is to take all of the technology off the kids and make ‘em learn on paper, just like you used to because you turned out just fine and so what’s wrong with it kids nowadays can’t pay attention to anything because of the damn television sets and the internet why I remember back when ….

Look. Technology isn’t a bad thing. It can be scary and it can suck you in, but life is about learning how to focus on what’s important.

The kids in Mrs. Maley’s class sit quietly with their iPads on their laps while the other students give math presentations, because they KNOW that now is a time for listening — not for playing Angry Birds. They are engaged with their stories when they blog and they know way more than I do about functions of an iPad (seriously, it was embarrassing).

Life’s also about balance, which is unarguably important. That’s why kids in Mrs. Maley’s class still write with pencils on paper, still read books, still talk to each other in group projects, and still have to watch the whiteboard during the day. They still have to learn basics, and they do. But they also get to use tools that are now an integral part of everyday life.

In my mind, that can only further arm them for the future.
————-

Follow me for more education-related fun from Saskatchewan on Twitter @LP_EmmaGraney

]]>http://blogs.leaderpost.com/2013/10/01/the-ipads-have-it/feed/0emmagraneyGiving a Gonski: Australian public educationhttp://blogs.leaderpost.com/2013/08/27/giving-a-gonski-australian-public-education/
http://blogs.leaderpost.com/2013/08/27/giving-a-gonski-australian-public-education/#commentsTue, 27 Aug 2013 16:27:18 +0000http://blogs.leaderpost.com/?p=38818I was back in Australia over the summer and kept seeing signs hanging off local public schools, declaring “We give a Gonski.” I asked my mum, a now-retired Grade 1 teacher, what it was all about.

Turns out the federal …

]]>I was back in Australia over the summer and kept seeing signs hanging off local public schools, declaring “We give a Gonski.” I asked my mum, a now-retired Grade 1 teacher, what it was all about.

Turns out the federal government, back in 2010, commissioned a guy named David Gonski to review the funding of public schools across the entire country. That’s right — the whole country. It’s a big country, yo.

Gonski’s conclusion was that there is a growing gap between students who are doing well and those who are struggling (Saskatchewan, anyone?). There were a few other findings, namely declining student performance across the board, an imbalance of funding responsibilities between different levels of government, and the fact the current funding model is unnecessarily complex and lacks transparency.

What should be happening, according to Gonski, is that schools should be funded according to need. Using the report, the federal government then launched into negotiations with each state, trying to get them to sign up to the Gonski plan (I am simplifying that a LOT, but you get the idea).

I’m quite sure not everyone agrees with Gonski’s approach…. I might be spitballing here, but I’m assuming higher-performing schools (which, typically, are in higher socio-economic areas) wouldn’t be too impressed with Mr. Gonski and his report. But it’s interesting to compare the Gonski model with that of, say, the US, which erodes funds from schools with poor performance on standardized tests.

Keep in mind Saskatchewan education minister Russ Marchuk has categorically said standardized testing will have no impact on school funding in this province — though it’s interesting to consider the fact it would impact funding in Australia, if the Gonski model were to be adopted. (Or maybe I just think all these different approaches are interesting because I am a huge education nerd.)

Anyway, you can read the Gonski Report here (fair warning: It’s bloody long, and I still haven’t got through the whole thing). If you don’t have that much time on your hands, head here for some neat little summaries and information about how the current federal election in ‘straya is impacting Gonski negotiations. Oh, and if you’re not easily offended and would like to see an extremely funny guide to Australian politics and the 2013 election, I highly recommend this site. My, oh my, how I laughed.

—-

Follow me on Twitter @LP_EmmaGraney for more education-related fun.

]]>http://blogs.leaderpost.com/2013/08/27/giving-a-gonski-australian-public-education/feed/0emmagraneyAre you smarter than a 1912 Eighth Grader?http://blogs.leaderpost.com/2013/08/26/are-you-smarter-than-a-1912-eighth-grader/
http://blogs.leaderpost.com/2013/08/26/are-you-smarter-than-a-1912-eighth-grader/#commentsMon, 26 Aug 2013 16:49:56 +0000http://blogs.leaderpost.com/?p=38804As kids get ready to head back to school on Sept. 3, I’m pretty sure exams aren’t what they’re most excited about. So when I stumbled across this little gem of an exam for Grade 8 students in Bullitt County …]]>As kids get ready to head back to school on Sept. 3, I’m pretty sure exams aren’t what they’re most excited about. So when I stumbled across this little gem of an exam for Grade 8 students in Bullitt County Schools, I just had to share it. (Full disclosure — I wouldn’t exactly have been top of the class were I a student in 1912 in Bullit County.)

Anyway, it got me thinking: Just how well would I fair if I returned to school today? Quite honestly, I shudder at the thought of just how much I’ve forgotten since I graduated Grade 12 in, dare I say it, 1998. So I went and tracked down some other high school exams — and, true to form, didn’t do great.

For example, here’s the Selective High School Placement Test for Grade 7 students in New South Wales, Australia, from a few years ago. I remember taking similar exams for school scholarships back in the day… horrible stuff, though I enjoyed it much better this time. Maybe because I’m not taking a day out of my weekend to take the test, and there’s nothing riding on my answers.

Back in Canada, here’s a sample Grade 9 math test from Manitoba. It had me stumped by page 2. Let me know if you make it through. But, in my defence, I failed Grade 10 maths and took Maths A (lovingly referred to as Maths in the Beer Garden, because Australia) in Grades 11 and 12. It was very … practical … mathematics.

Have fun with those. I’m going to print them out and hand them around the newsroom. For science.

—–

Follow me on Twitter @LP_EmmaGraney for all manner of fun education tidbits from Saskatchewan and around the world.

]]>http://blogs.leaderpost.com/2013/08/26/are-you-smarter-than-a-1912-eighth-grader/feed/0emmagraneyAnd the (school division) survey says…http://blogs.leaderpost.com/2013/06/21/and-the-school-division-survey-says/
http://blogs.leaderpost.com/2013/06/21/and-the-school-division-survey-says/#commentsFri, 21 Jun 2013 22:10:07 +0000http://blogs.leaderpost.com/?p=37796It’s a funny old thing, the On The Record Interview with school divisions.

I’ve done a couple of stories about capital funding recently (here you go, and here), but there seems to be one common thread when speaking …

]]>It’s a funny old thing, the On The Record Interview with school divisions.

I’ve done a couple of stories about capital funding recently (here you go, and here), but there seems to be one common thread when speaking with each division — the meticulously careful language when it comes to criticizing the Ministry of Education’s funding process.

I get it. In a time of tough budgets, biting the hand that feeds probably isn’t the best choice.

But the public statements made by school divisions and the hesitancy to name any real flaws in the capital funding process fly in the face of what was revealed on Page 88 of the provincial auditor’s report this week.

Take a look at this infographic or go have a peak at the report itself (scroll down to the second last page), and you’ll see an interesting number — not one school division that answered the survey thought the ministry’s capital asset planning processes were effective. Nor did any of them strongly agree with the fact they get adequate guidance from the ministry.

Further down the page, 70% of school divisions disagreed that they get adequate guidance on the analysis to support capital asset funding requests, and 65% didn’t think they got enough guidance on evaluating future needs.

The ministry says this came as a surprise, which does raise the question: Just how closely was it listening to school divisions in the first place?

For a tangible example, let’s take a look at the gymnasium at Sacred Heart school, in Regina’s North Central neighbourhood.

The Regina Catholic division requested funding in 2007 to get started on a new combined use facility. The ministry contends the engineering reports didn’t indicate the gym was in as bad a shape as it was, though the division would probably disagree with that.

Was this a case of lack of guidance?

Either way, the gymnasium was in such bad shape it had to close.

The school will be securing a building next door as an interim solution (with $1 million on the government’s tab) and, of course, you won’t hear the Regina Catholic Division say anything bad about the ministry, preferring to take the path of least resistance and focussing publicly on the silver lining of a gym come fall.

But one could argue that things should never have been allowed to get that bad in the first place.

It will be interesting to see how the ministry uses these survey responses and what changes come about as a result.

For more education-related fun, follow me on Twitter @LP_EmmaGraney

]]>http://blogs.leaderpost.com/2013/06/21/and-the-school-division-survey-says/feed/0emmagraneyAnswering questions – the bureaucrat wayhttp://blogs.leaderpost.com/2013/06/13/answering-questions-the-bureaucrat-way/
http://blogs.leaderpost.com/2013/06/13/answering-questions-the-bureaucrat-way/#commentsThu, 13 Jun 2013 18:04:01 +0000http://blogs.leaderpost.com/?p=37642When you interview anyone from a provincial government department these days, it’s stock standard practice to have a communications advisor in the room with the ministry bod, presumably to keep them on message (and make sure we’re reporting accurately, no …]]>When you interview anyone from a provincial government department these days, it’s stock standard practice to have a communications advisor in the room with the ministry bod, presumably to keep them on message (and make sure we’re reporting accurately, no doubt).

But I must say, two days ago I experienced an absolute first: Being put on hold so high-level Ministry of Education officials could discuss the answer to a question.

Over the course of a 16-minute interview, this happened not once… not twice… but thrice.

I asked around the newsroom in the hope this was normal and just something I’d never experienced.

Yeah, it’s not.

And nor should it be.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but directors and the like should know the answers to relatively simple questions.

Sure, sometimes you’ll get “I’m not sure on that — let me get back to you,” but that’s generally about a minute detail in a report, study or budget.

But it should never, ever happen in response to a very general, “So, is this the first time you’ve had something like this in place?” kind of question.

What really floored me was that there were three ministry bods in the room — yep, count ‘em, THREE. Surely one of them should know enough about the topic at hand to be able to give an answer without having a quick chat first.

]]>http://blogs.leaderpost.com/2013/06/13/answering-questions-the-bureaucrat-way/feed/0emmagraneySnow removal from roof of Canada Life building in Regina doesn’t go so well (with video)http://blogs.leaderpost.com/2013/03/25/snow-removal-from-roof-of-canada-life-building-in-regina-doesnt-go-so-well/
http://blogs.leaderpost.com/2013/03/25/snow-removal-from-roof-of-canada-life-building-in-regina-doesnt-go-so-well/#commentsMon, 25 Mar 2013 15:00:57 +0000http://blogs.leaderpost.com/?p=36377While walking around downtown on Saturday I happened to see some workers on the roof of the Canada Life building clearing away snow.

They were pushing snow off the Canada Life sign at the top of the building, and as …

]]>While walking around downtown on Saturday I happened to see some workers on the roof of the Canada Life building clearing away snow.

They were pushing snow off the Canada Life sign at the top of the building, and as you can see, it managed to do some damage on the way down. The chunk of snow appears to take out a light fixture just above the building’s main entrance.

]]>http://blogs.leaderpost.com/2013/03/25/snow-removal-from-roof-of-canada-life-building-in-regina-doesnt-go-so-well/feed/0mmelnychuk‘A lucky guy indeed’http://blogs.leaderpost.com/2012/12/13/a-lucky-guy-indeed/
http://blogs.leaderpost.com/2012/12/13/a-lucky-guy-indeed/#commentsThu, 13 Dec 2012 21:53:19 +0000http://blogs.leaderpost.com/?p=34740Remember CBC’s golden-voiced John Veale? In a note, John, now a resident of Mill Bay, B.C., tells us what he’s been up to:

“By way of introduction, I lived in Regina for 28 years (1967-1995) returning to my home …

]]>Remember CBC’s golden-voiced John Veale? In a note, John, now a resident of Mill Bay, B.C., tells us what he’s been up to:

“By way of introduction, I lived in Regina for 28 years (1967-1995) returning to my home province at retirement from CBC Regina in ’95.

“While in Regina, I built a Bushby Mustang ll aircraft, finishing it in 1981 and then enjoyed exploration of much of the province with it. (My passion, I guess!) I have some incredible memories and even photos of my hours of flight over that wonderful province and its varied landscapes. Unfortunately, small, light and high-quality video cameras were not available in those days, so it wasn’t until a year or two ago that I got involved in video work from my airplane.

“Our years in Saskatchewan were filled with good times … our growing family and friendships, however we did want to retire to the warmer climate of Vancouver Island. I began doing a little video work about four or five years ago, realizing then that video work was much more difficult that our CBC camera guys let on!

“I’m learning a bit about it, though, and am enjoying it thoroughly. I recently put together a little 19-minute video edited down from a one hour and 20-minute flight from my home airport at Nanaimo. I realize this is a long way from the Prairies, but I thought perhaps with more than a few prairie folk being familiar with the airplane, a hint as to where it is now flying might be of interest. That aside, I know that many Prairie folk spent time in this area in the winters. (I know, because we get visitors! Ha!)

“To give you an idea of what I am referring to, you may wish to check out this video link to my most recent attempt at emulating my former camera guys. (I’ll never get there, I’m afraid.) The address is https://vimeo.com/53986934 The response to this video has blown me away and just why it has done so well I have no idea, but hey, it has given me the opportunity to showcase a beautiful part of Canada to many folk from all over the world. The internet is amazing to this old guy, and yes, I have had reactions from many parts of Saskatchewan too and that is heartwarming. I am a lucky guy indeed.”

]]>http://blogs.leaderpost.com/2012/12/13/a-lucky-guy-indeed/feed/0wchabunA salute to some hard-working peoplehttp://blogs.leaderpost.com/2012/11/15/34208/
http://blogs.leaderpost.com/2012/11/15/34208/#commentsThu, 15 Nov 2012 21:40:15 +0000http://blogs.leaderpost.com/?p=34208A couple of people have asked me about the names of the folks who this week got Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medals in the recommendation of MP Ralph Goodale, the hyperactive Energizer Bunny of Canadian politics. Here’s the list. If my …]]>A couple of people have asked me about the names of the folks who this week got Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medals in the recommendation of MP Ralph Goodale, the hyperactive Energizer Bunny of Canadian politics. Here’s the list. If my muchachos in the Conservative caucus want to forward their lists, I’d be glad to post ‘em, too.

Cora Thomson – elder, former band councilor, community volunteer, Carry-the-Kettle First Nation

Dr. Vianne Timmons – President and Vice-Chancellor, University of Regina

Sandy Wankel – Executive Director of the Regina North Central Family Centre

Wing Commander John Yeomans (Ret’d) – veteran of Royal Air Force Bomber Command

]]>http://blogs.leaderpost.com/2012/11/15/34208/feed/0wchabunA grandfather and a proud veteranhttp://blogs.leaderpost.com/2012/11/06/a-grandfather-and-a-proud-veteran/
http://blogs.leaderpost.com/2012/11/06/a-grandfather-and-a-proud-veteran/#commentsTue, 06 Nov 2012 16:09:28 +0000http://blogs.leaderpost.com/?p=34007Just in time for Remembrance Day, we got the following thought-provoking note from a serving member of the Canadian Forces. Note the Regina “angle”:

Joseph Fogarty wrote that he “hopes it will provide younger generations of how it feels to …

]]>Just in time for Remembrance Day, we got the following thought-provoking note from a serving member of the Canadian Forces. Note the Regina “angle”:

Joseph Fogarty wrote that he “hopes it will provide younger generations of how it feels to grow up with a Veteran of WWII and the influence he had on me”.

He writes:

“Remembrance Day, What does it mean to you?

“My fondest years out of uniform were when my grandfather, a WWII veteran, would take me to Victoria Park in Regina, Saskatchewan, so that I could attend the service with him. I sure remember those layers of clothes because he never wanted me to be cold. Even if I was, I would not complain because it was his day to remember all of his shipmates who did not come home.

“Fast forward a few years; I join the Canadian Forces — Naval Reserve at Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship QUEEN and, for the first time in probably 10 years, I was not able to stand next to him in the service as, of course, I was taking part. I convinced him to attend the indoor service that was at the Agridome. He agreed. This happened for a couple of years and then I joined the Canadian Forces full time and, for 9 years, I did not join him for a service as I was either in Esquimalt (Victoria), British Columbia, or Halifax, Nova Scotia, but he always received a call from me.

“It is now 2009 and I am posted back to Saskatchewan. This in its own feet, as a support position, isn’t that hard, but it was nice to be home.

“Over the last 3 Remembrance days, I made all arrangements with the local Legion to get a wheelchair and it was my turn to take him to the services. He would tell me “Oh, don’t worry about me” or “Don’t drive down here just for that” on the days leading up to November 11th, but each year it was good weather (for Saskatchewan in November) and I would travel down to take him to the service once again at Victoria Park.

“I would stop at his house and we would get ready — him putting on his coat with his medals and poppy and I putting on my uniform with mine. Then, like any one of his generation, he felt we had to be at the service at least 10 minutes before anyone else would be around (not quite, but it seemed that way!).

“We got ourselves front row and waited for the parade to begin. We spoke very little, but we both knew what each other was thinking. I always thanked him for his service and his reply would always be “OK, Mate!”

“This year, I will be once again unable to attend a service next to my grandfather as I was moved to the Washington State in the United States of America and he joined the many sailors that did not come home from the war.

“I say ‘Thank you!’ to all those who came before me; your experiences and memories will live on. Rest in peace, Doug Scott (1926 – 2012). Fair winds and calming seas”.

I bumped into a local marketing guru of much experience who gave me his thoughts on the “selling” aspects of the recent mayoral race. (Note … his thoughts, not mine.)…

]]>Interesting insights (not mine) on the municipal election in Regina:

I bumped into a local marketing guru of much experience who gave me his thoughts on the “selling” aspects of the recent mayoral race. (Note … his thoughts, not mine.)

First, he figured that candidate Michael Fougere, given the profile that comes with 15 years as a city councilor, his name recognition and his endorsement by predecessor Pat Fiacco, should have done better than he did. The guru’s analysis was that Fougere, like the Saskatchewan Roughriders all too often, played “not to lose” and might have profited by eschewing the political centre for a more bluntly conservative appeal.

Meanwhile, my new friend thought Marian Donnelly ran a pretty good campaign, building on modest (but not great) name recognition and getting would seemed to be the gay vote, the artsy community vote (to the extent that these groups vote) plus (based on lawn signs) the NDP vote. But then, she hit the metaphorical ceiling and failed to “grow” beyond those groups.

But this marketing guru’s greatest praise was reserved for Meka Okuchi, who was little-known six months ago, but emerged from the pack and placed a very respectable third place. His heavy accent, which became almost incomprehensible when he got talking fast, didn’t help, we agreed.

Looking over the entire city and its 10 wards, the marketing guru’s interpretation was this was a rebuff for the NDP and its allied candidates — would things have been different had there been fewer races with three, four or even more candidates?